YOKOHAMA, June 29: Redemption and a record fifth title are beckoning Brazil as they prepare to take on Germany in the final here Sunday, the first meeting of the two footballing superpowers in the tournament’s 72-year history.

Four years after suffering one of the most traumatic defeats in their history, Brazil are now tantalisingly close to laying the shattering loss against France in the 1998 final to rest once and for all.

Fittingly it is the goals of star centre-forward Ronaldo - six in six matches so far - that have carried the South Americans into their third final in succession and their seventh overall.

The Inter Milan player is back as Brazil’s cutting edge after battling through years of heartache that began with his ill-fated appearance in the final four years ago, when he played just hours after suffering a mysterious fit in his Paris hotel room.

But though Ronaldo insists he wants to forget all about being lost in France, it is clear that the wounds from Paris are still raw among survivors of the mauling. Rivaldo and Roberto Carlos are both determined that there will be no repeat.

No country on earth demands as much of its national team as Brazil, and coach Luiz Felipe Scolari is well aware that failure on Sunday will be viewed as a national disaster.

Accordingly, he has been trying to shield his players from the mounting expectation back in Brazil.

Brazil have reached the final with a 100 percent record, winning all of their six matches decisively and without recourse to a penalty shoot-out at any stage. It is a good omen - the last team to match that record was the legendary 1970 Brazil side.

So at the climax of a World Cup in which the only certainty has been uncertainty, where reputations have been shredded in every round, Sunday’s final sees a clash of two of international football’s most enduring stereotypes: ultra-efficient Germany vs flamboyant Brazil.

Brazil’s form means they will take to the field at the 73,000-capacity Yokohama Stadium as heavy favourites against a German side that have confounded all expectations by battling through to the final.

Humiliated 5-1 by England in Munich during qualifiers last year, Germany have since enjoyed a remarkable transformation in fortunes after being written off by everyone in the days leading up to the World Cup.

Germany’s manager Rudi Voller, seeking to emulate Franz Beckenbauer and Mario Zagallo as the only men to have won the World Cup as a player and a coach, is happy to cast his team as underdogs.

Germany, who started out with the modest target of reaching the quarter-finals, have in many respects resembled their fabled predecessors of yesteryear, grinding out results to advance stealthily into the final.

Successive 1-0 victories over Paraguay, the United States and South Korea in the knockout phase have given Voller’s men a belief that they can shock Brazil with one last push.

But it is also true that they have managed to get to the final without facing any top class opponents, and there must be a doubt over their ability to contain the free-flowing Brazilian attack.

A patched-up defence missing the injured Jens Nowotny and Christian Worns has emerged as the best in the tournament, thanks in no small part to the brilliance of captain Oliver Kahn between the posts.

But the German rearguard is likely to face an extremely demanding examination from Brazil’s formidable attacking partnership of Ronaldo and Rivaldo.

Behind the front two, Brazil will welcome back the exciting Paris Saint Germain midfielder Ronaldinho, returning from suspension after being sent off during the 2-1 quarter-final win over England.

With Ronaldinho flanked by Kleberson and Gilberto Silva in midfield, Brazil will start with Roberto Carlos and captain Cafu as wingbacks. A back three of Edmilson, Lucio and Roque Junior completes a balanced line-up, with the dependable Marcos in goal.

Germany meanwhile will somehow have to overcome the loss through suspension of midfield creative force Michael Ballack, who scored the winner after picking up a second yellow card in the 1-0 semi-final win against South Korea.

PROBABLE TEAMS: